At this time of
year, Western Consumer Society takes wings. Consumer goods fly off the shelves
of stores and into the homes of families and friends, and we even succumb to
the message that we should be treating ourselves to assorted gadgets and goodies.

We have been
taught, and it is reinforced constantly, that value rests in the physical
plane: that *things* have the power to change our way of being; enhance our
life; bring us joy.

Paradoxical
messages about the greater value of love and family and togetherness are
present as well. We pay them lip service, then rush out to purchase a big boxes
of material that will *show our love* when we present them. We feel a need to
prove the existence of invisible attributes with objects and articles.

How differently
would we behave in the world if we placed Value and Worth on the things we
cannot see? If our socialization process had been a little different, then
maybe would be aware that the building we call a school represents only a
fraction of the value of happens inside. We cannot fill a box with learning, or
weigh out chunks of education or put ribbons around understanding arithmetic.

We feel the heft
of a book in our hand, and forget that as an object it is merely a small
representation of the inspiration and wisdom which can be gained by reading it.
We have forgotten the significance of the Unseen.

What if we
refocused the stories we tell about Value? What if we were more aligned with
the scientific truth that most of the Universe is not physical? Maybe then we
could approach this season from a new angle.

We could start by
retelling the stories we received when we were being conditioned, the tales that
were designed to predispose us to fit neatly into the world of consumption.

The Monarch’s New Robe

Once Upon a Time
there was a Wise Monarch who understood the value of all things and shared this
wisdom with the people of the nation.

Everyone across
the land valued the important aspects of life, and they did not preoccupy
themselves with trifles.

One day a
Stranger arrived from another place. Not having had the opportunity to learn
the ways of the Wise Monarch, the Stranger observed the population and found
them difficult to understand. They appeared ripe for exploitation.

Approaching the
Monarch, the Stranger offered to create an outfit of immeasurable beauty and
value.

The outfit, said
the Stranger, would permit the Monarch to display discernment and wealth and
importance. There came also a caveat; that whosoever could not perceive the
outfit, was, in fact, unfit for a place in society.

The Wise Monarch,
knowing the ways of Strangers and trusting the population, agreed to the plan
and was at once measured for the new costume.

For days the
Stranger toiled at a loom, and described in great detail the pattern and the
fabric.

For weeks the
Stranger wielded scissors and spoke about the textile. Presentations were held,
explaining the style and the cut of the suit being created. For months the
Stranger hunched over a needle, and told those who brought food and service
that inability to appreciate the cloth revealed reprehensible ignorance. The
people nodded and smiled, and went about their business.

Finally the
Stranger claimed to have completed the outfit, just in time for the Monarch’s
appearance at the Annual Festival.

The Stranger
arranged the new outfit on The Monarch’s body, fussing and flapping, and
reminding whoever would listen that failure to appreciate the fine clothing was
a certain indication of ignorance and posturing.

Then the Monarch
was finally dressed, and stepped out to greet the cheering crowds, and a hush
fell about the population.

The Stranger,
replete from weeks of fine-dining and care-filled hospitality, a pocket filled
with financial gain, listened from the doorway while preparing for escape.

A child said “The
Monarch is surely naked!” and the hush was broken with a rumbling murmur, as
everyone spoke at once.

“No!” they said, “Not naked.”

And wisely they
explained, for the children, and for the Stranger too.

“The Monarch is
clothed in the most valuable raiment: The Monarch is covered with humility and
bodily equality, embroidered with the pattern that is Nothing-To-Hide.

“Manifestly no better and no worse than the
people of the country, the Monarch is cloaked in unwillingness to kill the
ermine; a more noble garment cannot exist.

“There is dignity
which is finer than any silk; and self-respect more tightly woven than satin.

“The Monarch has
distinction thicker than velvet, and is plush with self-esteem.”

The Stranger,
without another plan, went away from the land ruled by the Wise Monarch, and
never forgot the lessons: there is no glory in deception and there is Great Value
in Things Unseen.

Journey Into Alignment

Jo Leath

Wakefield, Quebec. Canada

Jo Leath has been practising Numerology since the early 1980s and since then has studied synchronicity and various ways of accessing Cosmic Wisdom.
In 2008 she added Labyrinths to her practice, and has become a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator with Veriditas: Worldwide Labyrinth Project.